The Aftermath
by LothCat
Summary: A short epilogue to Fire Across the Galaxy, patching things up.


Kanan was tired enough he felt nearly drunk, only without any of the pleasurable side effects. It felt like he was thinking through a thick fog and while he was aware this was all very important it was hard to muster the energy to care. The Force could make it so he could ignore exhaustion and injuries for a while, but eventually everything caught up with him. It was hard to focus on what he should be asking when his greater concern was if it was worth it to walk all the way to his room when the floor was right there.

He did manage a little bit of irritation when Ezra spoke up again, wishing he could shush him without being too obvious about it. He didn't blame him for the fact he was young and there were fairly large gaps in his knowledge of the universe, it wasn't his fault. And any other time he'd welcome the questions, as adaptable as the kid was it was nice to have the occasional reminder that he'd never even left Lothal before he met them and things they all knew he'd never encountered. At the moment though…

"Are those lightsabers? Are you a Jedi? Does this mean you two know each other?" Ezra interrupted Ahsoka, looking back and forth between them.

"Yes, and no." Ahsoka answered calmly as Kanan tried to make a discrete shushing motion. "I don't believe we ever spoke to one another."

Kanan knew of her, of course. General Skywalker's former padawan had been somewhat famous on her own.

"Oh." Ezra looked faintly disappointed at that.

"Why don't you save the questions for later?" Kanan suggested gently, he could explain after he had sleep. A lot of things could wait until after he had sleep.

"Ok." Ezra seemed fine with the subtle hint and Kanan relaxed, until Ezra leaned in towards Zeb, speaking just a little too loudly to be discrete "Was the yes to the lightsaber part or the Jedi part? Or both? Because… uh… what was her name again?"

Kanan started to open his mouth to actually say something when the lean didn't stop, Ezra overbalanced and started to topple and would have hit the deck if Zeb hadn't moved quickly to grab his shoulders, holding him back upright.

Everyone startled at that, but Ahsoka was the first to move, striding over and bending down to grip Ezra's chin, tilting his face up and staring into his eyes.

"Concussion, the skull's undamaged and there are no major bleeds, but there's bruising." She let go of his chin more gently than she'd grabbed it.

"You're pretty." Ezra informed her a little too seriously. "Wait, I… what?"

Kanan felt like he'd been kicked in the chest. Of course Ezra wouldn't have been able to just shrug off falling all that way and knocking himself unconscious. He'd been so relieved that he was alive he hadn't stopped to consider he might have injuries beyond the lightsaber scores across his cheek.

"I'll take care of him." Kanan spoke up, moving to take Zeb's place holding him steady, starting to guide him the longer way around to the upper levels. He didn't trust him on the ladder any more than he trusted himself to be able to carry or boost him up like this.

"Are you sure?" Hera looked concerned, and he didn't blame her. She knew him well enough to know when he was only staying moving out of stubbornness and spite.

"I'm sure. You handle things here." Kanan kept Ezra moving. A very small part of him was glad for the excuse to leave, but more importantly Ezra was his padawan. It was ultimately his responsibility to make sure he was ok and he'd been too distracted to manage that right away.

Kanan had to make a small detour to grab the first aid kit before he guided Ezra through the bedroom door and over to the bed.

"Why did we leave? This isn't my room." Ezra looked around, confused, but didn't fight the nudge to sit down.

"Because you have a concussion, and I don't trust you not to roll off the top bunk like this." Kanan busied himself opening up the kit, getting out the chemical cold pack and the supplies to clean and bandage his cheek.

"My head hurts. Face too." Ezra reached up like he was going to touch the marks on his cheek and Kanan caught his hand, tugging it away from his face.

"I'll take care of that. Here, hold this against your head where it hurts." Kanan activated the cold pack, pressing it into Ezra's hand. Ezra held it up to the side of his head, tensing and hissing quietly at the feel of it on the lump at first. "Just like that."

Kanan tried to be gentle as he cleaned and disinfected the marks, feeling bad at each flinch. They'd scar, there was really no getting around that, but it would be worse if they weren't treated. Finally he sealed down the bandage pad over them.

"How's that?"

"Feels strange." Ezra scrunched his face, feeling the way the bandage pulled at the skin when he moved. "But better, doesn't hurt as much."

"Good." Kanan trusted Ahsoka's assessment, but he still gently ruffled Ezra's hair well away from where he had the ice pack, extending a little tendril of the Force to sense. He wasn't a healer by any means but it was enough to know that he'd be safe sleeping. "You should rest."

"This isn't my room." Ezra looked around with a frown. "Wait, did I say that already? I think I did."

Kanan smiled a little at that. "You did, it's fine. Just get some rest if you're tired."

"Yeah." Ezra just stayed sitting until Kanan nudged him down, laying down with him. He intended to just stay long enough to make sure Ezra was asleep and not going to try to wander. Once he was laying down though it was far too tempting not to close his eyes for just a moment.

* * *

Hera walked past the living quarters, pausing to check Kanan's door. It slid open easily, unlocked. What she saw inside made her smile, stepping in quietly to avoid waking either of them. Kanan had fallen asleep, still fully clothed, one arm wrapped around Ezra as if to stop him from getting too far away. Ezra in turn had tucked up, one hand gripping Kanan's shirt firmly. Hera grabbed the nearby blanket, shaking it out and draping it over both of them. Ezra stirred briefly at the touch, yawning.

"Kanan's sleeping." Ezra whispered, blinking up at her and trying to focus.

"Yes he is, go back to sleep." Hera whispered gently, waiting for him to close his eyes again. Kanan didn't even twitch at their whispered conversation. She dimmed the lights, making her way back out. Later she could go over what she'd found out with them, but for now everyone in her found family was exactly where they should be. And at the moment, that was all that mattered.


End file.
